What I Lost || sequel to Worth It

Eight

3rd person POV

Hours of work amounting to a zero sum. Tony thought he was getting close but all he came up with was Matthew Murdock, a blind defense attorney. So he was back to square one.

He thought that he must have to have taken a wrong turn somewhere. All the leads added up yet he still ended up at the wrong place.

The mug of coffee on his desk was down to the last dregs so he decided to stretch his legs and get a refill. He filled the mug to the point that it was nearly overflowing.

The work he had put the search over the past few days had led to absolutely nothing and all he wanted was to drown his sorrows in a bottle of whiskey. Unfortunately for Tony, his self control got the better of him.

Instead of further destroying his liver, he opted for a less liquid way of making people worry about him even more than they already do.

One might ask, "How on earth could people possibly worry about him even more?" And that is a great question.

Well, I don't know if you remember but his daughter was kidnapped by some nazis and then when he finally got her back, she left! Well, that was two years ago and it seems to be time for some spring cleaning.

"Don't need this, don't need this, keep that, burn that." Tony mumbled to himself as he sorted through her room. Tossing items into either garbage bags or storage bins.

After his fifth cup of coffee, he really got into his flow. Items that either held no emotional value to him or way too much would be thrown away and everything else was put into storage.

"Tony?" He turned around to see a very concerned Steve standing in the doorway.

"Hey, spangles." Tony greeted him. "Just doing some cleaning."

"Cleaning?" Steve questioned as he walked farther into the room.

"Yeah, it's been two years so I finally figured that it's time to get off my ass and get over it."

"And what exactly is your plan?"

"Well," He began. "Those bags are trash and those bins are storage and I figured we could turn this room back into the spare room it was before. Just in case we get a new recruit." Tony smiled at him.

"Tony, I think you need to take a breather and just think about what you're doing. This isn't something you can just get over." Steve tried to take the garbage bag out of his hand but Tony yanked it back.

"Isn't it though? Isn't this exactly the type of thing that you get over? You get over it and then you move on and you live your life. That's what you're supposed to do so that's what I'm gonna do." The crazed look in Tony's eyes was more than a little unsettling.

Steve furrowed his brow at the man spiraling in front of him, unsure how to help.

"Tony," Steve spoke in a calm tone. "I think you need to take a breather and come back to this when you're calm."

"Oh come on, Rogers, don't hit me with that supportive friend bullshit. You clearly have something to say so say it."

Steve took a deep breath before speaking.

"You need to stop it. You need to get it together and do something beneficial for yourself. Because this," he gestured to the storage bins and trash bags. "Is not gonna help you. This is just another thing you're gonna regret in the future."

The two men stood silent for a moment before Tony dropped the bag that was in his hand and left the room without a word. Steve sighed and began cleaning up the mess on the floor. He placed things in neat piles and turned off the lights before going back to his floor and closing the door behind him.

•••

With Steve's words ringing loudly in his head, Tony decided to take a breather.

Although his earlier search was fruitless, he still wasn't done. His issue before was solitude. He didn't take into account the fact that the other people living with him could possibly be useful in this scenario.

"FRIDAY, can you get reindeer games, speedy Gonzales, and one armed wonder up here?"

"Right away, boss." The AI responded.

He tapped his foot impatiently while finalizing his plans.

The elevator to his office dings loudly and the three men he requested walked out, seemingly confused.

"What do you need?" Pietro asked.

"I have a plan," Tony replied. "It might be a stupid plan but it's a plan nonetheless."

"I'm listening." Loki said with a slight smirk.